Splice-bar for railroad-rails.



A. LjNEAFlE & C. B. FRENCH. sPLlcE BAR Foa RAMOAD RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-31.1916- www@ Patented May 15, 1917.

y @a E j' @1% IN/v/'NTOR -f A l V BY WMM/W /MTTORNEY L.

, United States,

N sus aand ruina.

ANDREW J'. NEAFIE,` OF MOUNTAIN LAKE, AND CHARLES B. FRENCH, OF lDOVER,NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS T0 LACKAVVANNA `STEEL COMPANY, OIIE LACKAWANNA,NEW' yYORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

sienten-BAR FOR Remmen-.Rains rseaseo.

4Specification of Letters' Patent.

/ Application filed October 31, `1916i. Serial No. 128,666.

VTo all whom t may concern.'

Be it known thatwe, ANDREW J. NEAFIE and CHARLES B. FRENCH, citizens ofthe residing, respectively, at Mountain Lake, New Jersey, and at Dover,New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Splice-Bars forRailroad- `I ails, of which the following is a specification. Y

Our. invention relates to improvements in splicebars for the joints ofrailway rails,

whereby the danger of fracture and injury to such splice-bars is greatlydiminished,

,. at the top in the metal cutting, wearing, ter in the top of and theirlife prolonged.

These splice-bars, orangle-bars,v as they are often called, are .made ofmany shapes, sometimes with depending flanges, and are adapted t lit thefishing angle o f the .rail section,.a rail flange. A vtypicalt form ishere shown.

W'hen in comes in contact with the edges or corners on the lower edgesof the ends of the two rail heads. The result vof this contact, when thetracks are in service, is first to c ut and Awear the angle-bar, and,second, to hammer-and upset reduce its ductility,-thus weakening theangle-bar at the point of greatest stress.-

It will be understood. that, when the line is in service and the trainsare passing, the angle-bar is subjected to alternating strains lbearingsurface,

' -of compression and tension in both its upper and lower surfaces.Therefore the aforesaid the bar tends to weaken it at the point ofgreatest stress, when the top of the bar is brought intension. `Thisoften results in fractures having their Vbeginning tact with the railends.

cause 'seriousaccidents vent s uch Contact and thereby to prevent theconsists yin about its middle,

thus producing and maintaining a small' but sufficient clearance betweenthe edges of the rail ends and the bar,

whereby upsetting',

wearing, cutting, etc., of the latter atlthat point is avoided, and thefinished Aof the splice-bar at the center,where it .is

d to engage the rail headand the posltion in the track theA 'angle-i barspans the joint, and its upper edge, or

the metal and advantages hammering, etc., at the cen-- so damagedbyc0n-` Such fractures ,often' .the shape by rolling,

.the bar is not condition and sl'irface of the metal 1n the depression1s 'maintained thesame as when This-maintains the full strengtl`subjected to the greatest strains, and thereforeproduces a better jointand prolongs its life.

Our invention isCshown applied to various forms of splice-bars lin theaccompanying which the reference numerals of drawing in this descriptionare applied to corresponding parts in the various views. Figurel is aside elevation `showing' our improved splicebar in position'at therailjoint. Fig. 2 is a 'vertical cross section of Fig. 1V taken at thejoint, and somewhat enlarged. 4Fig. 3 is a partial inside elevation ofone of the splice'- bars.A Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the same. Fig.5 is an end elevation of a 'form of splicebar, commonly called afish-plate, provided with our invention.l 5;,

In the figures, l indicates the rai-lshaving small space between.- These'rail ends are `connected `by the spliee-bal's 2' of. any desirable'shape, arranged side of the. rails,

in pairs,'one on each and secured rmly 1n posi- To carry out thepurposes and obtainthe provided between the under surfaces frofthe railheads 5 at theireXtreme ends andthe upper surface of the splice. bar 2byform ing the depression 6 centrally invsaid upper surface. sharp cornerson the rail heads is entirely prevented and avoided during thelife ofthejoint.

of our. 1nvention,"clearance is' 'By this means'contact with thePatented Mayra, rara their ends arranged adjacent with-,the usualThisidepression 'may be formed by any suitable means, vfor instanceduring the process of rolling abrading or otherwise .when the metalisfeither hot or cold. We much prefer `however to modify .'orbulldozingat `the desiredjpoint, while the metal is hot. For thus themetalismerely displaced without anyredu'ction, at thepoint in question, and lweakened but is maintained of uniform strength from end to end.

s VV'e do not desire to limit ourselves to any lparticular dimensionsfor this depressies,

`when the m'etal V,is hot, but l i might be formed by cutting,Ouruinventio'n has for its object to prei' but We have made splice-barsWith a depresj sion of about'one-'inch in length and about one-eighthinchin .depth which Were successful'in use.

The clearance thus provided Will prevent damage to the metal at the topof the splicebar, thus preserving the proper finished condition of thesurface of the metal in the depression. The form and full strength ofand Where,

the' bars is maintained. at the'center where they are .subjected tothegreatest. strains, if the condition of thevmetal is impaired, the dangerof fracture is much increased.

We do not propose to limit the application of our invention tosplice-bars of anyr particular shape, for it would be a desirable,called Ffsh plate of usual shape having and lovverl avoid Contactimprovement in allforins With which We a-re acquainted.. For instance wehave shown in Fig. 5 our r-invention applied to the so-V the depression6 both on its upper surfaces to permit reversal.

y We claim,

1. A Spine-br for mii joints formed with.

ge to a central depression on its upper ed with the rail ends. Asplice-bar for. rail joints having the centralportion of itsupper edgeslightly dei pressed and 'correspondingly thickened, to

with the endsof the rails,

prevent contact y While preserving the full strength of the bar at thecenter.

3. lA` splice-bar for rail joints formed to..

fit snugly in the fishing angle of the rail, and having a depression toinsure clearance between the b ar and the corners on the undersurface'of the rail ends.

fl. As a new article of manufacture, a splice-barfor rail-joints formedwith an upper surface toengage the under s1de=of the 4under sideofftherail heads adjacent "theirV ends,-.substantiallyA as described andshown'.

naines to this specification.` l im .ff -.'ANDREW J. NEAFIE. j CHAR-LESB.l

l the underside of .the rail ends, substantially ias shown.

tof'the l In testimony'wvhereof vve 'have signedv our l3 5 in its upperportion adapted to be arranged adjacent the rail' ends rail heads,. and-having fa small'depreSsioii two rails-"having 'their' ends arranged ad]a-' bolted to said two ends 5.0 i between the.

